Aretha Franklin - 60 Minutes Interview 1989 - Part One

[abfan]

My other Diva

[jobeterob]

Thank you for posting this; she looks very beautiful; her reaction to Ed's questions about sex was good; she thought it was silly and I love that reaction; c'mon, just enjoy the music.

I heard a lengthy Jerry Wexler interview on CBC once; John Hammond too; and John said Aretha had such bad luck with men; there was always a new husband or boyfriend or manager "handling her affairs". It always sounds like life has been hard on Aretha - the husbands, the weight, the creditors, the fire, the son etc.

[abfan]

no problem.. a friend of mines personally posted them............Here is part 2

[abfan]

I wish they would leave her alone about her personal life my god.its like they ....wanna bring her down....But I would like to know about her 1st 2 children being born while she was under the age of 17 and she was supposedly on the road with her Father touring

[jobeterob]

There's the rub for the world; we want them to be human but they get treated like dieties and how can they act differently after a lifetime of worship? They can't stop singing at 70 years of age because it too, is addictive. The worst of them get hooked on stuff that damages or kills them, like Michael and Whitney.

But I like how you said you wish they'd leave her alone, but let's hear about the children being borne by a child. I wonder if one of these children is the guy that seems to have some trouble going on.

[reese]

When Aretha appeared on DONAHUE in 1991, he mentioned that she seemed to get upset with Ed's questions about sex. Aretha replied that on the whole she was not pleased with the 60 MINUTES piece, deeming some of Ed's questions as inappropriate. But she said "that's where his head was at the time."

[abfan]

reese yes I have the donuhue Interview.I think 60 minutes, they were looking for ratings and scandal since her life is clouded in mystery.
Another question why would her mother just up and leave her children...Remember now this was back n the day..

[reese]

reese yes I have the donuhue Interview.I think 60 minutes, they were looking for ratings and scandal since her life is clouded in mystery.
Another question why would her mother just up and leave her children...Remember now this was back n the day..

I suspect that there is a lot that Aretha keeps under wraps, which is her right. And it must be sickening after all that she's achieved, reporters still feel the need to go back to events that happened fifty or more years ago. But I suppose that's the price some pay for being in the public eye.

A few years back, there was a book written about her father Rev. C.L. Franklin. I don't remember the title. Aretha didn't participate in its writing, but her sister Erma did, as well as their cousin Brenda. It wasn't a "C.L. Dearest", but it was a different portrait,warts and all.

Also, I believe the 60 MINUTES piece actually aired in 1990. I remember the timeframe because I was working nights and weekends in the newsroom at the CBS affiliate here. When Aretha's segment came on, I had to phone home and get my sister to tape it for me, as I didn't know she was being featured that night.

[jobeterob]

Aretha Franklin is fortunate in being to keep quite a bit under wraps. It is because she is more of a singer than a celebrity; Diana Ross, Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston, while being singers, are also huge celebrities and with that goes the "garbage". And the nuts. And the way it works these days if that if you want to be a STAR STAR STAR, with it goes the sensationalism of everything you do.

This is harsh but I believe much of this has to do with the fact that Aretha has been somewhere around immensely obese much of the last decade or two, and the public and media are squeamish about that; nobody wants to see it; it is discomforting to talk about it; you don't need to go far before you are mistreating her. So it is best to ignore it.

[stephanie]

As a kid I used to think she was saying "You make me feel like a man sure a woman..LOL" then I found out it was Natural Woman. Aretha is guarded about her personal life but she talks about anythin else regarding music. When you look at old clips of her its hard to believe she was once a smaller woman.

[luke]

Geez people shes a public figure it goes with the territory. She can answer or not.

[jobeterob]

If Aretha thought it wasn't a great interview, I'd agree; he asked questions that were a bit odd; questions that were hard to answer no matter who you are. And he seemed to do that deliberately; they know a focus for Aretha is her difficult personal life, so he asked those kinds of questions and then they have Jerry Wexler come on and say she's had very bad experiences. They could have asked a few questions about some concerts, her records, her plans, high points for her, her Grammys. They are lucky she didn't get pissed at him, like she has many times before, sometimes in public. And lucky she didn't call it all to a halt.

[reese]

If Aretha thought it wasn't a great interview, I'd agree; he asked questions that were a bit odd; questions that were hard to answer no matter who you are. And he seemed to do that deliberately; they know a focus for Aretha is her difficult personal life, so he asked those kinds of questions and then they have Jerry Wexler come on and say she's had very bad experiences. They could have asked a few questions about some concerts, her records, her plans, high points for her, her Grammys. They are lucky she didn't get pissed at him, like she has many times before, sometimes in public. And lucky she didn't call it all to a halt.

By the same token, Aretha has been in the business many years, AND she knows what the media is like. Surely she had to know that 60 MINUTES was going to go for both the good and the bad. She didn't have to agree to the profile.